Magic Tricks
by Midnight Hikari
Summary: A small act of kindness can leave a very lasting impact on a person. Right before Kokuyo Arc then jumps right before Varia. Slight 69OC for now
1. An Illusionist's Impact

AN: I'm typing this in school. I'm gonna get into soooo much trouble if I'm caught! God help me. This is my first KHR fanfic so please bear with me.

I seldom see any MukuroxOC stories so I thought I should make my own. This might be a prequel to an upcoming story, but that'll have to wait after _Finder's Etiquette_, my DGM fanfic.

**Basic Summary – A small act of kindness can leave a very lasting impact on a person. Right before Kokuyo Arc.**

_**Disclaimer – I don't own KHR or Winnie the Pooh or Eriol's name.**_

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_An Illusionist's Impact_

Kokuyo Park was full of children running around laughing and playing games. There were the occasional screams of joy and shrieks of delight. The sun was bright, but it wasn't very hot at all. Mothers sat on benches, gossiping and giggling at the stories they shared. Teens sat beneath shaded trees, listening to loud music or simply chatting. Old couples walked by arm in arm with content looks on their faces. A nice breeze came and went.

It was a beautiful Saturday to go to the park.

A 14 year old girl turned into the park. On her left, holding her hand, was her little English half-brother of 8 years old. Both had jet black hair, but the boy, Eriol Nao, had heterochromatic eyes of green and blue but was covered by a pair of sunglasses. The girl, Rei Nao, had regular brown eyes. They both wore a simple white shirt with blue jeans, both claiming it would be easier to find each other.

Rei let go of her brother's hand. "Eriol-kun, go ahead and play. But make sure you can still see me while you're out there, okay?"

The child gave her a small smile. He ran off into the playground and stood in line to get on the slide.

She sighed and sat down on a bench nearby. It's been a year since her mother divorced her father for cheating on her. Soon after that, she found out she had a half brother already in elementary school. Then her father remarried Eriol's mother and now they're all one big happy family.

Although, Rei isn't exactly happy with her father's other family. She gripped the book in her right hand tightly. After taking in a deep breath, she released the tight grip and opened the book. It was her brother's favorite, _The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh_. She teased him relentlessly because of it.

Rei read the book quietly, occasionally looking up to see if Eriol was still within her sights. She loved the little boy, always wishing she had a baby brother to look after. _'I just wish that we were related by Mother and Father,'_ she sighed. _'Not that Sarah-san's a bad mother or anything.'_

Sarah wasn't. As a matter of fact, she was _perfect_. Too perfect for Rei's taste. She could flip pancakes, make fantastic meals, sew clothing, clean the house spotless, and was the perfect hostess. She had silky smooth hair and a smile that could possibly power both towns of Nanimori and Kokuyo – according to her Father.

Perfection scared her. She used to think that perfection came in the form of her parent's faithful marriage. Then her mother took a look into her Father's bank account and saw all the child support checks he made to Sarah. She took a look into his cell phone, found her name and called the other woman up. Both meet and decided one of them had to go. Yuki Nao, or presently known as Yuki Mizu, came to the house one day with divorce papers and Sarah and Eriol in tow.

Yuki and Sarah have tea together every Sunday afternoon.

Both women, however, decided that Eriol and Rei go to the park today instead of sitting and listening to them talk. _'At least I get to Okaa-san every week,' _Rei snapped from her thoughts and looked up, expecting Eriol to be climbing the Monkey Bars by now or chatting with new friends.

Nope, our dear little Eriol Nao was gone.

"Eriol-kun?" she yelled weakly. No answer.

"Eriol?" she yelled louder, forgetting her honorifics in her panic. "ERIOL!" Rei ran into the playground, clutching her book. If she lost her brother, she'd have Yuki, Sarah, and her Father breathing down her neck.

Three children ran up to her. "Hey, lady, are you Nao-kun's sister?" They asked in perfect union.

Hoping they have information on her brother's whereabouts, she replied enthusiastically, "Yes! Where is he?"

The middle child presented up to her a pair of broken sunglasses – Eriol's. "Nao-kun got pushed off the swings by a big bully over there. He was there while we saved a spot for him on the swirly slide." She pointed to the swings which were a bit out of Rei's sight range when she was sitting down earlier. "He stepped on Nao-kun's glasses and called him a freak. We don't know why though."

'_Because of his eyes he inherited from Sarah-san's great-grandmother.'_

"Where is Eriol-kun right now?" she asked slowly, taking the remains of the glasses. For all she knew, the bully was beating up her little brother right now somewhere in the massive park. I mean really, who'd make a park the size of a shopping mall?

They pointed towards the Kokuyo Dog Park. "Nao-kun ran that way."

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Rei thanked the three with giving them the candy she saved for Eriol. She ran off to the Dog Park, her sling bag hitting her hip along the way. She began yelling "Eriol! Where are you!" as she ran throughout the 'dog-infested' park. Her head looked left and right, not looking in front of her. She nearly ran into three people on skates walking their dogs, stepped in two different puddles of dog drool, and tripped over a leashed dog.

"ERIOL! ERIOL, WHERE ARE YOU!" Rei was dead, she knew it. She was going to get skinned alive, burned, ran over, and whatnot by her parents. "ERIOL! ERI- ooof!" she ran into someone and fell backwards.

The other person staggered back a bit. His companion's eyes widened as he saw Rei.

"Nee-chan!" Eriol ran over to his sister's side, careful not to drop his ice cream cone. "Nee-chan, are you okay?"

Eriol's companion offered Rei his hand. "Kufufu… You should really watch where you're going Nao-san."

She took his hand and got up, "Right, thanks." Turning to Eriol, glared at the poor boy. "What were you thinking? Running away like that, do you know how worried I was?"

"Nee-chan!" he groaned slightly. "I can take care of myself too you know."

Rei dusted her hands, trying to get the gravel off. "Uh-huh, then explain why… Um, sorry, what's your name?" Her eyes gave the other a quick look over.

He was tall with pineapple shaped purple hair. His left eye was blue but the other right was covered by his bangs. (_'Probably blue also.'_) He wore the Kokuyo Middle School uniform ('_So I guess I'll be seeing him tomorrow?'_). He looked around her age, probably 14 or 15. He looked nice enough, but something about him was a bit off. The feeling he gave off was like a predator patiently waiting for his prey.

Eriol hurried back to the male's side. "This is Rodoku Mukuro-san!" He smiled proudly. "I found him."

"Kufufu, found me?" Mukuro wore an amused smile. "I do believe you have it backwards, Nao-kun." He turned to Rei, "The boy was crying and lost when I found him. I have some time on my hand so I decided to help him."

(_'Is he saying that if he didn't have time on his hands, he wouldn't have helped him?'_)

"Mukuro-san!" Eriol whined, tugging on the teen's hand. "You promised not to tell Nee-chan!"

Rei couldn't help but laugh at Mukuro's reply. "Did I? Kufufu, I don't seem to remember this promise of yours."

Eriol pouted, "Nee-chan is laughing at me! That's it; I'm going to eat the ice cream cone Mukuro-san let me get for you!" He began lick away at the melting cone in his hand.

"He bought you ice cream too?" Rei turning to Mukuro. "How much was it, let me pay you back." She rummaged around in her sling bag for her wallet.

Mukuro waved it off, "Kufufu, its fine."

Before she could argue, Eriol began to jump up and down. "Nee-chan, guess what! Mukuro-san's just like me!" He tugged at the pineapple's sleeve. "Mukuro-san, can you show Nee-chan your right eye?"

He did so. Rei's eyes widened a bit at the blood-red pupil. But she noticed something. _'Is it me or does his lright eye say the character for 'six'?'_ She blinked and the character was gone._ 'Huh, I guess it was just my imagination.' _Mukuro let his bangs hide his right eye once more as Eriol began to speak.

"I'm not alone in the world, Nee-chan!" At this, Rei suddenly realized how lonely Eriol was. His eyes scared off every child he tried to befriend. _'Except for those three back in the park. I hope they attend Kokuyo Elementary.'_

Eriol wasn't done showing off his new friend. "There's more! There's more!" He jumped up and down faster than before. Mukuro "kufufu"ed at his excitement. "Mukuro-san, Mukuro-san, can we show Nee-chan the magic trick?"

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Magic trick?"

"Uh-huh! Mukuro-san's a great magician, right, Mukuro-san?" The boy was going to be dog tired when they got home from all the excitement.

Mukuro glanced at Rei's disbelieving smile. "Kufufu, why don't we show your sister? Ready?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah!" He stood ram-rod straight.

"Nao-kun, you need to relax or else the trick isn't going to work," Mukuro chastised gently.

He relaxed, his shoulders slumping forward a bit. Mukuro dramatically pulled his sleeves up to his elbows (_'Whoa, talk about pale!'_) and shoved his hand into Eriol's right pant pocket. He slowly began to take his hand out.

"What the-?" Rei was shocked. The guy was pulling out a bouquet of Easter Lilies from her brother's small pocket! Eriol simply smiled.

Mukuro present the flowers to Rei. "For you, Nao-san."

She blushed and stammered, "T-thank you, but how did-?" She was cut off by Mukuro.

"Wait, there's more." The teen snapped his fingers. The bouquet exploded and left behind a single lotus flower. He smirked at the shell-shocked look on Rei's face. "This, of course, was all planned by your little brother here." He pushed Eriol forward a bit.

Eriol shyly gave his sister a hug, "I love you, Nee-chan!" His hug tightened when she returned it.

Rei let go and turned to Mukuro. "Thank you, Mukuro-san, for finding Eriol-kun. I am in your debt." She bowed deeply, holding the lotus stem.

A cold smile appeared on his face and caused Rei to shiver a bit. "Kufufu, I'll keep that in mind then." He turned to Eriol, "Do try not to get lost again, Nao-kun." Mukuro patted the boy's head before walking away.

He was about to leave the park entirely when Rei suddenly yelled, "I'll see you tomorrow in school, Mukuro-san!"

Mukuro simply waved and didn't look back.

* * *

The lotus flower gently floated in the half-filled crystal bowl as Rei climbed the stairs in her house. Out of nowhere, Eriol came almost running into her. "GAH! Watch where you're going, Eriol-kun!" The bowl in her hands began to splash water all over the wooden floor. She clutched the bowl, getting her purple house shirt wet. Rei hurried into her room, slamming the door.

"Eh? Why are she so protective of the lotus Mukuro-san and I gave her?" Realization dawn upon the 8 year old's face. "No way…" He gripped his new book, _The Basics of Magic Tricks_, and bound down the stairs screaming, "Okaa-san, Otou-san! Nee-chan has a crush on Mukuro-san, the friend I made in the park!"

Rei reply was immediate. "LIES! I DO NOT!" All hell broke loose in the Nao Household at this statement.

"Do too! You were red the whole time Mukuro-san was there."

"I got hot!"

"Yeah, you got the hots for Mukuro-san!"

"That made no sense! You're dead, Eriol-kun!" Remember her saying that she loved her little half-brother? Yeah, well, she took it back.

The next day in Kokuyo Middle, Rei looked forward to seeing Mukuro again. _'Can't believe Eriol-kun's making me his messenger to Mukuro-san. He had a question about this one magic trick.'_

Rei felt terribly disappointed when she couldn't find Mukuro that day. Or the next. Or the next.

She gave up looking for the pineapple head after a month passed.

* * *

AN: To those who are wondering, the impacts Mukuro gave off were this: Eriol – 'magic tricks' (oh God, the irony!) and Rei – a small crush

Did I get Mukuro right? I hope I did. After all, this is Mukuro being all nice for some reason. (Like when he met Tsuna in the forest kind-of-nice) Tell me if you want me to make the offical story! I'll incorporate Rei and Eriol into the KHR plotline somehow.

Everytime you don't leave a review, Mukuro gets punched in the face by Tsuna.


	2. Trick 1 Meeting Nagi

AN: I got three reviews! Hooray, Mukuro lives to illusion another day! Thanks for the support you guys.

_animelover78_ reminded me of something in the review. I just remembered that in the Hidden Bullet Light Novel, Mukuro attended Kokuyo Middle regularly as Kabane. Let's just say for the sake of the story that Rei never noticed him until the park meeting. When she started looking for him, the entire Kokuyo Arc was going on. Meaning, Mukuro was already attacking the Vongolas in Kokuyo Healthy Land the next day. By the time Rei gave up looking for him, he was already in Vendicare.

Now, let's skip roughly one month before the Varia starts. Yes, **there will be a new Guardian (of Snow) but Rei will NEVER be a guardian. The Snow will belong to someone else. **Right now, this is the month when Nagi/Chrome got ran over in Kokuyo. Amano-sensei never told us where she lived so I'm assuming she lived somewhere near Nanimori or Kokuyo. Also, according to _Vongola 77_, Chrome is 13. Due to this, the chapter is going to be a bit long. I apologize in advance.

I've changed the title to _Magic Tricks_ now. It seems kind of fitting since the story more or less revolves around magic tricks. Or should I change it back?

_Disclaimer – I will never own KHR._

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Trick 1 – Meeting Nagi

~Two Weeks After Meeting Mukuro~

_Snow…_

_Rei and Eriol looked up at the sky and smiled as the bright white snow fell down. The boy pressed his face against the glass, wanting to be with the snow. He looked at his sister, begging her silently with his eyes._

"_Sure, yeah, go ahead and play. Put thick layers on though. I'll be out in a minute; Sarah-san wants me to fold the towels first." Rei received an enthusiastic hug from Eriol. She watched the boy run up the stairs into his room to go change._

_The older sister began to fold the towels. One… Two… Three… Four… The towels she folded seemed endless. By the time the basket was half empty, Eriol was already outside starting on his second snowman. Red… Blue… Purple with Black stripes… Green with Pink Polka dots… There was barely a dent in the half full basket. If Sarah or her Father were home, they'd probably be helping her by now._

_Rei came across a beach towel. 'A beach towel?' Alarms went off in her head and she ran to the door screaming, "Eriol-kun! Get out of the snow!" She slammed into the door, struggling with the doorknob. It was unlocked but the door would not budge. "ERIOL-KUN!"_

_All of a sudden it began to snow harder than before. Rei looked outside the window to see a raging blizzard going on. Eriol was out in that blizzard. For all she knew, he was on the ground freezing to death. She took one of the umbrellas in desperation and swung it against the window. The window remained intact. The bat in the closet didn't work either._

_She looked out the window once more. The house was completely snowed in. Rei fell to the floor and began to rock herself back and forth. "He's not dead. He's not dead. He just probably went to the neighbors before the blizzard."_

"_Kufufufu, what an interesting nightmare you're having, Nao-san," a familiar voice laughed as his hand gently landed on Rei's right shoulder._

_Lo and behold, there stood Mukuro in the flesh. Rei stared up at him, "This is just a dream right, Mukuro-san?"_

_Mukuro smirked at her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Even dreams contain truth inside of them. Now, it's time for you to wake up."_

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"Rei Nao, wake up!"

The teen woke up, her right arm red from her head's weight. "I'm awake," she replied sleepily and rubbed her eyes. She could feel the looks and fingers being pointed at her from all of her fellow Kokuyo Middle classmates. It was a rare occurrence that Rei Nao, one of the few star students, would even dare put her head down in class. This was terrible, the class was mixed grades.

Fujiwara-sensei sniffed and looked down upon his student. "I'll make this one exception, Nao-san. But the next time you sleep in Health Education, you will be sent to detention with the student council." He sprayed her with the water mister he uses on misbehaving/sleeping students.

Rei looked at her teacher's back for a moment before leaning back in her chair. It's been two weeks since she and Eriol last saw Mukuro. The little boy had gotten close to the pineapple teen during the park visit. He was determined to see him again. Eriol even went to the point of asking to go to the park every chance he could… with Rei of course.

The child loved to tease her about her crush on the magician.

She looked at the clock on the left wall and groaned. Almost to taunt her, the school day had ended the moment she glanced at the clock. _'Damn it! Today was a review day for the exams,'_ Rei silently slammed her head to her desk. Nobody paid attention to her as they noisily ran out the doors to freedom, including the teacher.

"Um, I can lend you my notes if you want," a timid voice whispered behind her.

Rei lifted her head and looked at her younger classmate. "Nagi… Akesaka, right?"

Nagi simply nodded, her purple bangs covering one of her eyes. For a moment, she reminded Rei of the pineapple haired teen in her dream. "Y-Yes, and I've got all the notes for today's r-review."

The shy girl gasped when Rei jumped out of her seat and whooped with joy. "Thank you so much, Akesaka-san! You don't know how much this means to me." She took the other's hand and began to dance with her around the classroom. Rei spun Nagi around and danced in circles with her until both of their eyes began to swirl.

"N-Nao-san! Please stop spinning me!" Nagi laughed as the two spun faster and faster.

Rei complied with her request and turned to Nagi with bright eyes, "Come on! I gotta treat you out for ice cream or crêpes!"

Nagi's eyes widened. "T-there's no need to." But both girls could tell that she wanted to be treated out for food – her stomach demanded it so. She blushed madly and held her stomach. "I-I'm sorry!"

"No worries, it just means I can stuff you with food." Rei patted Nagi's stomach, "You're so thin! How'd you do that?"

"Akesaka, Nao, how long do you two plan on staying after school? Are you two attending detention?" a cold voice cut in before Nagi could reply. It was the student council president in the door way. His name was Masato Hitsuji, a strong yet peaceful young man who did so much to improve the school outlook. That was until Mukuro and his friends appeared. Since then, he'd turned to violence to reinforce the school rules for three full days. But when he was beaten by Mukuro, he was took online classes at home to avoid Mukuro's rein over Kokuyo (and escape the wrath of those he had beaten up). This caused him to lose all the school offers he received. Exactly two weeks ago, the same time Mukuro stopped attending school; he came back with a vengeance. Masato took on everyone who defied him and began to rule with an iron fist.

That's right; Rei went as far to looking into the school records to look for Mukuro. She was surprised to find out that his real name was _Rokudo_ Mukuro and not _Rodoku_ Mukuro. But she easily brushed it off as Eriol mishearing his name. What she didn't brush off was the history Mukuro had in Kokuyo. She was determined to find and confront him on the matter. Did he have a split personality between school and the outside world? Was he messing around when he found Eriol? When he gave her that flower?

"We were just leaving, Hitsuji-kun. No need to bite our heads off." Rei took a step away from Nagi, who was hyperventilating due to Masato's presence.

"I suggest you hurry up, then," he replied monotonously as he cracked his knuckles. Masato leaned against the door frame and glanced their way. "Or else I'll have to call the rest of the student council." Then he added as a threat, "Including Yaginuma."

Nagi's eyes widened and she quickly gathered her things, "I-I'll meet you at the g-gates, Nao-san." She scurried out the room, giving Masato a small bow as he stepped into the room to let her through the door.

She had just barely left earshot when Rei exploded at Masato, "You idiot! You completely scared her off!" She had this advantage over him; they'd been friends for a year before he got busy with student council. After that, they just drifted apart. "What ever happened to the Hitsuji-kun who didn't believe in violence, huh?"

Masato looked at Rei with steely eyes, "He disappeared the day he fought with Rokudo Mukuro and his lackeys for the final time." He walked over to the classroom's window and stared out into the distance. "I hear you're looking for Rokudo Mukuro, correct?"

Rei angrily snapped back, "That's none of your damn business."

"It is when it involves him. I also know you looked into the school files and searched him up on the registry." Masato turned to Rei and looked her in the eye. "Do you remember Kabane-kun?" he spat the name out as if it were poisonous. "He was part of the Student Council and helped me with the school."

'_Kabane?'_ Rei was confused, how did this fit into the conversation? "No, you were always by yourself. You said that you had someone else to help, but you never did. Besides, I don't recall a classmate by that name. Why do you ask?" she asked when she finished packing her things.

To her surprise, Masato kicked over a chair and yelled, "NO! HE WAS REAL! HE WAS ROKUDO MUKURO IN DIGUISE!"

Rei backed up a bit towards the door. "Whoa, calm down a bit. Think about it, Hitsuji-kun. How can 'Kabane' and Mukuro-san be the same person? For the final time, no one in our class was named Kabane. Whenever you were working, you were always by yourself."

"NO NO NO! ROKUDO MUKURO CAN CONTROL MEMORIES THROUGH HYPNOSIS!" he raged throughout the room, kicking chairs over and throwing papers into the air. He even threw a couple of ragged posters down and tore them into pieces. "HE MANIPULATED EVERYONE BUT ME! HE CHANGED EVERYONE'S MEMORIES BUT MINE!" Masato looked at Rei with a hint of insanity in his voice. "He isn't human, Nao-san." He went towards her, his hands outstretched. "You believe me, don't you? We're friends after all."

She freaked out. "I'm not so sure anymore. You've completely lost it since Mukuro-san defeated you." She ran out the door, leaving Masato in the room to his misery.

* * *

~Four Weeks After Meeting Mukuro~

Nagi walked next to Rei in the sidewalks of Namimori, the town right next door to Kokuyo. Both were window-shopping. She noticed that every time there was a tall teen with the same purple hair color as her, Rei would immediately snap her head that person's way. This has been going on quite some time, even when the older teen treated her out to crêpes two weeks ago. "N-Nao-chan, are you looking for someone?"

Eriol was spending time with Yuki and Sarah. He had 'allowed' Rei to go out and have a girl's day out with Nagi. He also gave his sister hand drawn photo-copied flyers of Mukuro with a sign saying _'Magician Rodoku Mukuro – Missing. Please call this number'_. She had no choice but to stuff the flyers in her messenger bag and agree to post them all over Namimori.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, Akesaka-chan." Rei clutched her bag, which didn't go unnoticed by Nagi. She looked to the side and saw a small café. "Wow! What a cute place," she grabbed Nagi's hand and led her away. "This looks like a great place to stop for a snack!" It was a Rei's way of saying 'drop the subject now'.

They sat down and immediately got settled. Rei ordered a slice of strawberry cheesecake while Nagi asked for a slice of flan cake. The café was called _The Mad Hatter's Café_. The tables were not uniform; each had a different table cloth while the chairs were different designs. The spoons and forks were mismatched while the centerpieces contained freshly cut flowers from the front of the café. The flower colors clashed with each other, making the table seem even more 'mad'.

Rei left her bag in her chair saying she had to go wash her hands. It was time for Nagi to play detective on her friend. _'I want to help her. She's been so nice to me and she's my first friend.'_ She rummaged around the bag for a moment and pulled out a couple of flyers. _'Rodoku Mukuro? Doesn't she mean Rokudo Mukuro?'_ Her mind flew back to pineapple haired teen that was two years above her. She remembered seeing him in one of the hallways talking to an animal-like boy and one wearing glasses.

"Tsk, looks like you found out our secret, Akesaka-chan."

Nagi jumped a bit in her seat when a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up, expecting to see Rei just as mad as her parents would be if she was caught snooping. Instead, the older teen looked embarrassed and rubbing the back of her neck. "I-I'm sorry?" The apology was more or less a question.

"Nah, it's okay. You were just worried about me." Rei sat down with a sigh of relief. "I'm actually happy that you went through my bag. I felt really bad not telling you what I did when I went off." Occasionally during their stroll, she would go off by herself for a moment only to reemerge and scare Nagi. "While we wait for the food, why don't I tell you how my brother and I meet Mukuro-san? But you have to promise me you won't tell my parents. Eriol-kun told them and for some reason, they don't like Mukuro-san. They said that 'he seems to be a bad influence on Eriol-kun'. So you gotta keep quiet on this, okay?"

The shy teen nodded in anticipation. This was the first time anyone ever told her a secret. "O-Of course, Nao-chan!"

By the time Rei finished her story, both girls had polished off their orders. Rei paid for the treats, saying that it was her duty as a _sempai _and a friend to treat her. "Come on, Nagi! I just want to spoil you in your parents place."

Nagi blushed and simply said, "L-Let's start putting up those flyers, N-Nao-chan."

"You want to help pass them out?"

"I w-want to help you, Nao-chan." She looked up and shyly added, "After all, you do have a crush on Mukuro-san."

It was now Rei's turn to blush. "Shhh!"

Nagi bowed her head and mumbled, "Sorry."

"Don't say it too loudly!"Rei laughed and nodded. "Sure you can help; it should go faster with the two of us working together." She gave her about twenty flyers, "Try posting them in public places. I'll go around posting them in some residential areas."

They split up, but not before Rei called out, "Don't get caught by that Hibari Kyouya guy!"

* * *

~Final Day Before the Varia Arrive~

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan!" Eriol stormed into Rei's room, the door hitting the wall so hard that it left a slight dent. "I… The phone… A kitty… Nagi-nee-chan …" he stuttered out, unable to form complete sentences.

His sister placed the picture frame containing a laughing Rei, a smiling Nagi, and a poster of a badly drawn Mukuro in the middle. "Did Nagi-chan call to say that she got a cat?"

Eriol didn't answer.

"That's good! I kept telling her that getting a pet would help her gain some confidence." Rei got up and moved towards her cell phone. "I'll go call her right now and tell her to bring him over for the sleepover!" This would be the fourth time Nagi slept over in the Nao Household.

She didn't expect Eriol to burst into tears. His wide eyes closed and a loud wail erupted from the small boy. Snot trailed down and tears mingled with it.

Rei grabbed the tissue box and began to franticly pull tissues from it. She wiped his face, "Eriol-kun, what's the matter? Do you want a cat too?"

He looked up and sniffed very loudly. "Nee-chan, Nagi-nee-chan is in the hospital."

It was as if someone stabbed her in the stomach.

"Nagi-nee-chan was ran over trying to save a kitty."

* * *

A flyer of Mukuro waved in the wind before getting pulled down by a small hand. The hand was connected to a baby wearing a suit and a fedora. A chameleon crawled all over the baby's hand before settling on the edge of the fedora.

"Hmph," a small smirk formed on the baby's face. He pulled down his fedora a bit before looking up at the sky. "Rei and Eriol Nao…"

Reborn turned and left for his student's home.

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AN: I feel bad for leaving it like that. Yes, Reborn's got something in mind. It's not going to be pretty either. Don't worry you guys; Mukuro's going to show up… sooner or later. I'm sorry it took a long time to update. I didn't mean to do that. There's only so much time I can type up a chapter in the school library without getting kicked out.

Anyone want to guess who the _obvious_ Snow Guardian is?

EACH TIME YOU DON'T LEAVE A REVIEW, MUKURO SPENDS ANOTHER TEN YEARS IN THE WATER TANK.


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